. . . The first reapers in the township [Green] were J. B. McKinney's and Phillip Berger's. . . .

. . . Thomas Powell was buried in what is now J. B. McKinney's Pasture before 1838. The spot is unknown. . . .

. . . One spring five boats came down [the Missenewa River] loaded with charcoal. They were stove in, and the coal was lost. One broke in pieces going over McKinney's dam. . . .

. . . William Ore, Samuel Caylor and J. B. McKinney each burned his own bricks for his homes. . . .

. . . In Green Township may be found, in fact, perhaps the most costly dwelling in Randolph county, that of John B. McKinney, Esq., opposite Fairview, of a peculiar style, unique but elegant, and very expensive, said to contain forty rooms. . . .

. . . The merchants at various times [in Fairview] have been . . . J. B. McKinney . . .

. . . J. B. McKinney, 1,400 acres or more [in Fairview] . . . Bridges: There are three large bridges near Fairview, crossing over the river to the residence of J. C. McKinney, Esq., and constructed of iron . . .

John B. McKinney, son of Anthony W. McKinney, resides across the Mississinewa River, south from Fairview. He owns 1,400 acres or more of land, and is a great stock dealer and raiser, owning hundreds of cattle.

He has a wife and three children, and the finest residence in Green Township, and there are few, if any, equal to it (outside the cities) in Randolph County. He is an energetic and successful businessman, an active Democrat in politics and a prominent citizen.

Jesse B. McKinney, stock-raiser, P.O. Fairview, was born in Clark County, Ohio. January 8, 1822. His father, Anthony W. McKinney, was born in Newport, Kentucky, and his mother, Elizabeth (Britton) McKinney, was born in Ohio. In 1837, his father came to Randolph County, locating in Green Township. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. The grandfather of J. B. McKinney was a soldier in the Revolution, and fought at Bunker Hill and Brandywine. After the war, he settled in Kentucky, and adopted the vocation of farming. He owned and operated a ferry [boat across the Ohio River and it is said he assisted in "raising" the first log cabin in Cincinnati. He died in Green Township, Randolph County, Indiana, in 1838. Jesse B. McKinney was reared amid the scenes of pioneer life, and received his education in a rude log schoolhouse in this township. He was married, August 10, 1848, to Elizabeth A. Manor. Her father was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, and her mother, Elizabeth (Suverance) McKinney, was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father settled in Jay County, Indiana, in 1835. Mr. McKinney and wife have three children now living, viz: Mary C., Emma Z. V. and Ella E. Elizabeth Jane died in 1854. During early life, Mr. McKinney followed the occupation of farming, then engaged in milling pursuits for five years, and for six years was in mercantile life. He has since been extensively engaged in farming and stock raising, having 1,500 acres of fine land in Green Township, and a palatial home. He is enterprising and public-spirited, as well as liberal, and is universally esteemed.

History of Randolph County, Green Township Chapter

Jesse B. McKinney. Few Residents of Randolph County were as widely and favorably known as the late Jesse B. McKinney, for many years a wealthy and popular citizen of the township of Green. Joseph McKinney, Grandfather of Jesse B. McKinney, served all through the Revolution, was twice taken prisoner, and was once tied to the stake to be burnt, but was rescued by an Indian chief, who paid his ransom and set him free. Mr. McKinney's paternal ancestors were early settlers of Kentucky, his father Anthony Wayne McKinney, having been born in Newport when that city was but a mere frontier outpost. Anthony Wayne McKinney moved to Ohio in early manhood and there met and married Elizabeth Brackin, of Clarke County, in which part of the state he continued to reside until his removal to Randolph County, Indiana, in the year 1837. On coming to Randolph County, Mr. McKinney engaged in farming and milling in Green Township, both of which occupations he carried on with good success until his death, August 1872. By his marriage, noted above, Anthony W. McKinney became the father of eleven children, of whom but four are living at this time; to a second union, solemnized in 1852 with Mrs. Catherine Maricades, seven children were born, five of whom yet survive. Mr. McKinney was a man of excellent character and his energy and thrift were rewarded by a handsome fortune, the greater part of which was accumulated after his removal to the Hoosier State. He entered the American Army in 1812, as a fifer, and served as such throughout that war, taking part in a number of battles and minor engagements with the British and their Indian allies.

Jesse B. McKinney, whose name introduces this sketch, was born January 8, 1822, in Clarke County, Ohio, and accompanied his parents to Randolph County, Indiana, in the year above noted. His educational training embraced the studies usually taught in the common schools of those times, and until attaining his majority he remained under the parental roof, assisting his father in the work of the farm and mill. When he began life upon his own responsibility his future appeared anything but promising, and his children state that his sole earthly possessions at that time consisted of the clothing he wore, a few effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief, and twenty-five cents in money. Thus equipped, he resolutely started out to make his own way in the world, and it is a fact worthy of note that his first job of work was secured after a long and footsore tramp to the town of Peru, where he secured employment as a general laborer at $8 per month. After remaining in Peru for a period of four months he returned home and rented his father's mill, which he operated with reasonably fair success until he met with an accident, which caused the loss of a finger, when he gave up the milling business and engaged in the general mercantile trade in the town of Airview, which he carried on with financial profit for a period of nearly six years, when he exchanged his stock of goods for a farm of 160 acres. To this tract he made additions at various times, purchased other lands in different parts of Randolph and other counties, and in time became one of the most successful real estate dealers in this part of the county, his lands, some time previous to his death, amounting to nearly 2,000 acres.

Mr. McKinney possessed financial ability of an unusually high order, and his judgment on all matters of business policy was seldom, if ever, at fault. Every enterprise to which he turned his hand appeared to prosper, and the large fortune, which he acquired, was entirely the result of his own energy and wisely directed business thrift. In many respects was a model farmer and believed thoroughly in the true dignity of the noble calling of agriculture. He took great interest in raising fine live stock of all kinds, which business returned him handsome profits, as is attested by the large demands in Randolph and other counties for the horses, cattle, hogs, etc., bred by him on his farm in Green Township.

Personally, Mr. McKinney enjoyed great popularity in the community where he resided, and he was benevolent and charitable in all those terms imply. Though not visibly connected with any church or religious organization, he believed in the teachings of the Holy Writ and gave unstintedly of his means to the furtherance of all religious, educational and charitable institutions, as well as to all enterprises of a public nature, having for their object the material well being of the county.

Mr. McKinney was united in marriage August 10, 1848, to Elizabeth A. Manor, whose birth occurred March 13, 1830, in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Mrs. McKinney is the daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth (Suvers) Manor, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and bore her husband four children, namely: Mary C., widow of William Starbusk; Emazette, wife of J. W. Reece, a land agent residing at Dunkirk; Elizabeth J., deceased, and Ella Estelle, wife of H. A. Blakely, who resides on the old homestead with the widowed mother. The parents of Mrs. McKinney were most estimable people and reared a family of seven children, all living but two.

Politically Mr. McKinney was a democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and for years was looked upon as a leader in the deliberations of his party in Green Township. No man of the township contributed more in a substantial way than he to the growth and development of the country. His farm which is considered one of the best in Randolph, numbers among its many improvements an elegant residence, erected in 1870 at a cost of $30,000, and an extensive cattle barn, 666x66 feet (built of brick), all under roof and well floored, in which over 800 head of cattle can be sheltered and well cared for. At the time of his death he was the possessor of over 1,700 acres of very valuable land, beside numerous herds of live stock and large sums of money invested in other and safe enterprises.

His was indeed a well-rounded and successful life, and his death, which occurred on the 14th day of February, 1888, was an event deeply and unusually deplored throughout Randolph and adjoining counties.

History of Delaware & Randolph Counties, Indiana 1894

Jesse was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Fairview, Indiana.

Submitted by 4th Great Grandaughter Janette Dalton